Interview with author Phillip Tomasso-first author interview
SELLERS. PATTERSON, COOK, KING, SAUL, BLOCK, PARKER, SANDFORD . . . BUT IN DOING BOOK REVIEWS I HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ BOOKS I MIGHT NOT HAVE PICKED UP OTHERWISE. I LIKE MELODY BUSSEY, (YOU), M.R. SELLARS, STEVEN PHILIP JONES, WAYNE J. KEELEY, ELLEN EDWARDS KENNEDY, DANIEL BUCKMAN . . . I THINK I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING BOOKS BY THESE 'LESSER KNOWN AUTHORS' MORE SO THAN THOSE WRITTEN BY THE 'BEST SELLERS'. WHEN I GO TO A BOOKSTORE NOW, I TEND TO FIND MYSELF SCANNING THE SHELVES FOR BOOKS BY WRITERS I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF. IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET PUBLISHED. SO THE BOOKS ON THE SHELVES MUST BE PRETTY GOOD--RIGHT?
SUITE: A book or author that influenced you a lot? Personally or professionally.
PHILLIP: S.E. HINTON IS MY BIGGEST INFLUENCE, I GUESS--ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE AUTHORS I JUST LISTED, WOULD BE TOO. BUT IT WAS S.E. HINTON'S, THE OUTSIDERS, THAT DID IT FOR ME. I HATED READING UNTIL I WAS FORCED TO READ THAT IN 7TH GRADE. AFTER THAT I BEGAN TO READ EVERYTHING. I READ HINTON'S OTHER THREE NOVELS, THEN THE NEXT BOOK I GRABBED WAS STEPHEN KING'S FIRESTARTER.
SUITE: Favorite mystery movie?
PHILLIP:
CLOSE RUNNER UP WOULD BE, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.(HATED
HANNIBAL ). BUT MY ALL TIME FAVORITE IS SEVEN. IT WAS A TIGHTLY WRITTEN MYSTERY WITH JUST A WILD ENDING. IT IS A MOVIE THAT IS NOT FOR THE WEAK, BUT IT IS COMPELLING.
SUITE: Favorite mystery TV show? If you don't have a favorite mystery one, then some other type of TV show that is a favorite.
PHILLIP: MY FAVORITE TV SHOW IS, BY FAR, THE TWILIGHT ZONE. ROD SERLING HAD AN AMAZING SERIES. SOME WERE SPOOKY, SOME JUST MIND-BOGGLING. MY FATHER AND I WOULD (AND SOME TIMES STILL DO) WATCH ONE AFTER THE OTHER. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SCI-FI CHANNEL RUNS A 24 HOUR FESTIVAL OF TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODES. I DON'T THINK ANY THING ELSE WOULD COME CLOSE. ( COLUMBO, MACGUVER, QUANTUM LEAP . . .)
SUITE: How do you feel about writing? And how does it feel when you are writing? Excited, frustrated, is it just business?
PHILLIP: IT IS NEVER JUST BUSINESS. I HOPE IT NEVER GETS TO BE JUST BUSINESS. I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE ENOUGH WRITING TO WRITE FULL TIME. BUT EVEN IF THAT NEVER HAPPENS, I FEEL GREAT. I ALWAYS FEEL EXCITED, SOMETIMES ANXIOUS, OCCASIONALY FRUSTRATED. I HAVE CRIED WITH MY CHARACTERS,
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